Sloan, Durant built GM on firm foundation of dealer base

摘要

Before there was a General Motors, company founder Billy Durant knew the importance of a skilled and aggressive dealer network. Durant laid the foundation for the GM franchise system and its growth in 1905, when he was certain he had a hit on his hands with Buick hut needed a way to attract investors and move the metal in a hurry. After Durant's departure from GM in 1920, legendary CEO Alfred Sloan carried the value of the dealer network to a new level, using his dealers as a way to measure and forecast the market itself. Unlike many of his peers, Sloan also saw his dealers as a pulse of the customer's satisfaction and changing tastes, as well as a reliable gauge of whether his own management team was in tune with the customer. This excerpt from William Pelfrey's new hook Billy, Alfred, and General Motors picks up in 1904, just after Durant assumed management control of the struggling Buick Motor Co.